A £75,000 CYCLE path and greenway along a disused rail line in Greetland is still on the agenda.

Calderdale Council’s planners granted the authority permission in 2009 for the construction of a greenway, cycle path and pedestrian walkway in the Greetland and West Vale areas.

However, the greenway has not been completed and planning permission has now lapsed.

And it has been revealed that it was held up by legal complications over land ownership.

So the council now has to apply to itself for permission for a time extension to begin the works.

The idea is for the disused railway line between Rochdale Road and Green Lane to be utilised and link the area with the borough’s off-road network.

Since the proposed route was first approved back in 2009 some remedial work has been done, including a 300m link path from Rochdale Road to the B6114 Saddleworth Road, including the ramp section at Rochdale Road.

However, the outstanding 120m section of the route, linking the viaduct with Green Lane, has been the subject of an impasse regarding landownership access.

The owners refused to honour a planning condition, which provided a path through the Ingwood Parade development on a legal matter of condition interpretation.

And that held up the scheme for two years while negotiations took place.

The council formally appointed Sustrans, the national cycling charity, and has now made significant progress on this matter from a legal perspective.

The council said in a report: “All sections of society benefit, whether it be walking the dog, pushchair or children in a relaxing social activity in a safe environment.”

It was hoped at the time that around 700 trips per week would be made to the greenway.

The proposed facility would run along the old rail line from Rochdale Road in the north and Green Lane in the south, linking into a route along existing paths and roads linking to Brooksbank School, Elland.

It would also provide links to the Hebble Trail, which leads to Halifax, to the National Cycle Route 66, which links with Brighouse, and to the south it would link up with Holywell Green, Stainland and parts of Kirklees.

The Examiner asked Calderdale Council why work has not been done since 2009, whether funds are in place to make it happen and when work would begin. They did not respond.

Using Freedom of Information, the Examiner has learnt that funds were in place back in 2009, which includes £10,000 Section 106 contribution from the developer, £85,000 ‘Links for Schools’ Sustrans grant for 2009/10, £40,000 Heritage Lottery grant (also obtained by Sustrans) for 2009/10.

In addition there are sums of £25,000 and £50,000 from the Local Transport Plan from 2008-2010 allocated.

The current budget is £75,000.

The application will be considered by council planners in due course but a revised start date is provisionally programmed for spring/early summer this year.